The
Akwa Ibom House of Assembly was again thrown into turmoil on Tuesday as a
faction made up of five All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers clashed with
those loyal to Onofiok Luke, the Speaker, at the assembly premises.
The APC
lawmakers, Tuesday morning, made their way into the House chambers where they
quickly held their ‘sitting’ and passed a “resolution” suspending 11 lawmakers.
The
‘sitting’ was presided over by Nse Ntuen (Essien Udim State Constituency).
The
other four lawmakers were Gabriel Toby, Etim Ekpo/Ika; Otobong Ndem, Mkpat
Enin; Victor Udofia, Ikono; and Idongesit Ituen, Itu.
They
were yet to leave the assembly when the state governor, Udom Emmanuel, who
belongs to the Peoples’ Democratic Party, arrived with police officers,
officials of the State Security Service (SSS), and some youth loyal to the
state government and the PDP to chase away the factional lawmakers.
Photos
posted on Facebook showed some of the lawmakers fleeing for safety.
A car
was reportedly set ablaze during the fracas.
“Let
nobody, party think they can intimidate us in Akwa Ibom State,” the speaker, Mr
Luke said during plenary, as he, alongside other lawmakers, took control of the
assembly.
“The
people of Akwa Ibom have shown solidarity as seen in what happened today. We
will continue to stand with our governor. We will continue to make laws for our
economic development of the state and for the betterment of the youth of the
state,” the speaker said.
The
House of Assembly, reacting to the latest development, passed a vote of
confidence on Mr Luke.
The
House called on security agencies to arrest the five lawmakers and a former
sergeant-at-arms, Godwin Ukpong.
They
also called for the redeployment of the new commissioner of police who is
barely one week old in the state.
The
Commissioner for Information in the state, Charles Udoh, said it was necessary
for the governor to visit the assembly because of the crisis.
“The
governor is the chief security officer of the Akwa Ibom State, so when there is
a security threat, the governor has to physically supervise what’s going on
there,” Mr Udoh said.
“The
five dissident, sacked House members, aided by the police with thugs dressed in
fake police and army uniform, had invaded the House of Assembly.
“The
governor, being the chief security officer of Akwa Ibom state, has an
obligation to be there.
“The
governor’s presence helped to restore peace and calm at the assembly,
especially when you consider the fact that the illegality perpetrated by the
five sacked members of the House of Assembly, was aided and abetted by the
Nigeria Police Force,” he said.
The
five lawmakers, last week, defied the Constitution and announced the “removal”
of Mr Luke after their seats were declared vacant for defecting from the PDP to
the APC.
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